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At Salon 710, owner Lisa draws upon 20 years of experience in the hair dressing industry to lead a talented team of stylists as they beautify clients with cuts, color, and texturizing services. But the team can do more than hair?they also offer nail care and waxing services.

After attending Empire Beauty School, stylist Racquel “Kal” Stringer spent seven years acquiring hands-on industry experience, following and perfecting each new hair trend to hit the scene. These days her bag of tricks is robust—she still enrolls in continuing education classes, and she draws on her expertise from within her very own salon, which opened in the summer of 2012. The intimate space, wrapped in turquoise hues and dappled with bronze accents, sees hairdos transform with a range of services, including all-over colors, deep-conditioning treatments, and precision cuts.
During appointed “seniors” days, Kal entertains elders with good conversation while she adds volume to their tresses with roller sets and perms. But no matter what age her clients are, she always takes the time to teach them how to recreate their new 'do at home or within 30 second of finishing a bungee jump.

Tracy Cottone polished her skills as a nail technician for over a decade before branching out on her own. At Tracy's Tips and Toes, she specializes in striking but always-elegant colors in a variety of styles, including seasonal takes on French manicures, teensy rhinestone adornments, and shiny no-chip polish. Her salon suite welcomes everyone from little girls to grandmothers to plop down in a leather chair and wriggle their toes into a warm, sudsy foot bath.

The team of aestheticians and spray tan techs at Ultimate Radiance specialize in beautifying our most visible organ: the skin. Custom Fantasy Tan airbrush tanning imbues exteriors with natural-looking color designed to dry fast and facials and chemical peels attend to acne, wrinkles, and age spots. The team demonstrates their dedication to clients by keeping their appointment books open 24 hours a day.

Jainea Salon is a haven of individualized pampering. Waxing sessions for the face and body lead to smooth skin and expertly arched brows. Lash and brow tinting, meanwhile, can help highlight and emphasize eyes, and facials are customized to patron's needs whether they're looking to get rid of acne or a false moustache that's gotten too attached.

Powerful men have sat here: Al Capone, Jesse Jackson, Saul Bellow, Nelson Algren. But don’t let that intimidate you. Fame and prestige mean very little when you’re sitting half-naked inside of a room heated to 200 degrees.
That room—the Turkish sauna—is located in the men’s section of Wicker Park’s Red Square, a revamped incarnation of Chicago’s hallowed Division Street Russian and Turkish Baths. In 2013, the bathhouse reopened under new owners, who did a complete rehab of the facility, perhaps to align it with the trendy Wicker Park neighborhood. The old granite-brick oven still bakes in the sauna, but the mosaic tile floors, cedar walls, and lavish spa treatments—think facials and aromatherapy body scrubs—make this a far cry from Capone’s shadowy haunt.
Still, the idea of a bathhouse might conjure intimidating images: naked men collectively bathing, or mobsters brokering deals behind a mysterious veil of steam (both accurate, perhaps, at one time). I myself was intimidated when as a kid my uncle first dragged me through the fogged sauna doors. But years later, when I returned on my own, I was able to appreciate the sensation of being swallowed by steam and spit out as a revitalized person.
I've since been back many times, but as I learned during that first visit as an adult, even if you enjoy what it does to your body, the heat of the Turkish (or “wet”) sauna can do funny things to your brain. Here's what happened to me, best I can recall through the haze.
I walked through the door and the heat welcomed me with a bear hug. Men—or men-shaped figures, at least—sat on the cedar benches in various states of undress. The air was thick with eucalyptus, and the oven let out a great hiss as a man shoveled water onto its heated boulders. Within minutes my skin was glistening, and I felt like a tribal warrior taking a ritualistic sweat. My mind began to wander.
Why is that man beating that other man with a tree branch? I asked myself. I overheard lively conversations, but the words were indecipherable. Is it me, or are people speaking in tongues? Is this some ritual I am not aware of? The man at the oven shoveled more water onto the rocks, the boulders wailed upon impact, and the heat grew more and more intense. I considered voicing my own brand of gibberish to convince the strangers I belonged.
Instead, I reached for a nearby bucket, filled it with ice-cold water, and dumped the thing over my head. Sweet mercy. According to co-owner Margarita Vizcarra, this blast of icy water bolsters circulation and works your pores. According to me, it’s like the world’s most enjoyable heart attack. It snapped me out of my reverie and back to reality.
Turns out, the man with the tree branch was delivering a traditional platza treatment ($30), an exfoliating body scrub performed with a bundle of oak, eucalyptus, and birch leaves. The indecipherable language? Just your usual mix of Russian, Lithuanian, and Spanish banter.
The rush from the cold bucket was fleeting, and I soon felt the heat once again take hold. It was time for the cold plunge.
Situated just steps from the Turkish sauna, the cold pool is meant to mimic the icy ponds in Russia, which bathers would use as an antidote to the heat. I doubt there are any synonyms for “shock”—in Russian, English, whatever—that aptly describe the feeling of going from a 200-degree sauna to a pool of 35-degree water. But it’s a healthy shock, a full-body rush that produces clarity and invigoration. I emerged fully refreshed and ready for another round of heat.
Tips for First-Timers
What’s Included
For $30, you get a full day’s access to the wet and dry saunas, whirlpool hot tubs, cold-plunge pools, and relaxation areas; spa treatments are extra. Red Square provides sandals, towels, a robe, and a sheet.
The Whole Nudity Thing
Yes, flesh is on full display, but the atmosphere is nonsexual and nonthreatening. Still, there are ways to maneuver around this—you can keep the sheet around your waist while in the sauna or even wear a swimsuit—but for my money, it’s best to leave your inhibitions in your locker with your clothes.
Ease Your Way In
After I stow my things in a locker, I usually begin with a rinse in the private shower, take a quick soak in the hot tub, and spend a few minutes in the steam room to acclimate my body to the heat. Then I move on to the Turkish sauna.
Take a Break
Between saunas and soaks, I like to don the robe, kick back on a lounge chair, and zone out or read. I’d recommend something light, but there are also flat-screen TVs to keep you occupied. I’m not a massage guy, but upstairs, therapists offer Swedish ($65/hour), deep-tissue ($80/hour), and warm native-stone massages ($80/hour). Margarita says that the ideal time for a massage is after the sauna—your muscles will be pliable from the heat and primed to be molded.
No Jacket Required
Dining in your robe is encouraged at the upstairs restaurant, which serves fresh watermelon salads and Russian entrees. I’d recommend drinking plenty of water, but don’t pass up the Moscow Mule cocktail—the cold vodka is a nice capper that gives me the nudge I need to reenter the real world.

True, some yellow and green polishes look like something you’d find floating in a bog. But they can also look like shamrocks, Big Bird, or The West Wing’s Donna Moss.
When I was finally old enough to pick out makeup beyond Dr. Pepper–flavored Lip Smackers, my mom guided me through the Walgreens cosmetics aisle, helping me choose subtle shades of lipstick and modest tubes of concealer. While she begrudgingly agreed to let me bring home 1999’s hottest nail-polish shade (metallic navy blue), she made a sweeping comment about the yellow and green polishes that I’ve never been able to shake: “Those colors make your nails look like they have a fungus.”
Her words still echo through my head every time I browse the nail-polish aisle—although I did manage to block out her voice long enough to try the mint and seafoam-green polish trends (I still love them). But whenever I spot non-minty greens and yellows of any kind on the shelves, I’m baffled. Who wears them?
Of course, no color is without a gross association—red is a classic manicure color, but it’s also the color of blood, an F on a school paper, or an F on a school paper written in blood. With that in mind, I decided to give yellow and green nail polishes a fair shake. Below, I analyzed five shades and tried to pinpoint exactly what they reminded me of, fungus or otherwise.
1: Sinful Colors in “Unicorn”
If it was a fungus, it would be: This doesn’t resemble a fungus so much as a moss—specifically Donna Moss from The West Wing. It’s the color of her hair, and just like Donna, the polish seemed a little bland at first, but finally won me over.
But it looks more like: Lemon icing on a Girl Scout cookie.
2: Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art in “Sunny Side Up”
If it was a fungus, it would be: Scrambled-egg lichen (fulgensia fulgens).
But it looks more like: One of Big Bird’s feathers. There’s nothing gross about Big Bird.
3: Sinful Colors in “Innocent”
If it was a fungus, it would be: The scary, nuclear-green algae that floats along the banks of the Mississippi in my hometown. Algae isn’t a fungus, per se, but it’s still pretty gross.
But it looks more like: A pear Andy Warhol might have painted.
4: Revlon Nail Enamel in “Posh”
If it was a fungus, it would be: Boreal felt lichen (apparently also available in throw-pillow form)
But it looks more like: A shamrock.
5: Maybelline Color Show in “Walk in the Park”
If it was a fungus, it would be: Not a fungus—more like peat moss. At midnight.
But it looks more like: An extremely wearable shade of nail polish. It’s still green, but it’s such a dark shade that it looks more like a black polish with a little shimmer.
Photo: Andrew Nawrocki, Groupon